1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fence and method for making same. The fence is a rail and picket fence with a rail that is open of the bottom side to allow a greater amount of flexibility of the angle between the rail and pickets. The rails and pickets are held together with a sliding lock bar with a single ridge that engages an indention provided in the pickets specifically for the purpose of securing them together while still allowing flexibility in the angle of intersection between the rail and pickets.
2. Description of the Related Art
Current rail and picket fences are limited in the angle of intersection of the rails and pickets because they employ rails that are constructed of tubular stock and that tubular stock is then provided with openings in both its top surface and its bottom surface to receive each picket. Thus, because there are two openings in each rail associated with each picket, the size of those openings limits how large the deviation from a perpendicular orientation can be created between the rails and the vertical pickets when constructing the fence.
Another problem with current fences of this type is that normally each picket must be individually secured by welding or other means to each rail, thereby causing the construction of these picket and rail fences to be extremely labor intensive and expensive, thereby limiting the use and market for these types of fences.
The present invention addresses both of these problems by providing a fence that is constructed with rails that are open of the bottom side to allow a greater amount of flexibility of the angle between the rail and pickets. The rails are provided with upwardly oriented bottom lips that prevent the pickets from moving out of a vertical plane that coincides with the longitudinal axis of the rails. These upwardly oriented bottom lips retain a sliding lock bar that inserts from the end of the rail after the pickets have been inserted into picket openings provided in the top surface of the rail. Each picket is provided with an indention in its side so that when the sliding lock bar is inserted into the rail, a single ridge provided along the length of the sliding lock bar engages the indentions in each of the pickets, thereby moveably securing the pickets to the rail. The sliding lock bar is held in place internally within the rail by one upwardly orient bottom lip, an interior side wall of the rail adjacent to that bottom lip, and interior top wall of the rail, and the notched pickets. Because each picket is provided with only one notch per rail and because the sliding lock bar is provided with only a single ridge to engage the associated notches in the pickets, the pickets are free to move in a plane that coincides with or includes the longitudinal axis of the rail, with the movement of the pickets limited only by the top opening in the rails and the ability of the sliding lock bars to move within their associated rails. This flexibility in the angle of intersection of the bars and rails is possible because the rails do not have a bottom surface and associated bottom picket openings in that bottom surface that can severely limit the movement of the pickets in a plane that coincides with the longitudinal axis of the rails.
Because of the flexibility of the angle of intersection, the present invention can be employed in uneven and hilly terrain without any modifications to the fence components. Because the fence rails and pickets are secured together with sliding lock bars, creating a fence with the present invention is fast and easy and can be done by unskilled workmen or even a homeowner.
Also, because the components, i.e. the rails, pickets, and sliding lock bars, are prefabricated in the shop and do not require customization at the installation site, the components are relatively inexpensive to manufacture and can be sold at lumber yards and home improvement stores for installation by the general consumer, thus greatly increasing the market for these types of fences.
Because of the way the sliding lock bar secures the pickets and rails together as a unit, fences constructed according to the present invention are as strong or stronger than currently available custom built picket and rail fences. Also fences of the present invention are attractive, being almost indistinguishable in appearance from custom built picket and rail fences that cost much more.
An added benefit from this invention is that, because the pickets and rails are secured together without welding, they can be finished, such as by powder coating or plating, in the shop prior to shipment and do not require touch up painting after the fence is constructed. Another benefit from this invention is that the open bottom of the rails allows moisture to escape more easily from the rails and therefore results in less damage to the rails over time.
The present invention is a method for constructing a picket and rail fence using pickets with side indentions, rails with open bottoms, and sliding lock bars that secure the pickets to the rails. After pickets have been inserted through each picket opening provided in the top of each rail, a sliding lock bar is inserted into the rail so that the bar is positioned between the side of the pickets and the rail. As the sliding lock bar is thus inserted in the rail, a single ridge provided along the length of each sliding lock bar engages the indentations in the pickets to thereby secure the pickets to the rail. The rails are provided with upwardly oriented bottom lips along their length that serve to prevent the pickets from moving in a vertical plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the rails and serve to retain the sliding lock bars within the rails.